The fountain of the mist
by Sabri224
Summary: Luke and Lara Pride were split up and sent to different demigod camps after their newly discovered demigod powers nearly got them both killed. Fate intervened and they were both sent on quests to stop an evil Titan's plan to destroy demigods. Will they meet?
1. Chapter 1

Luke was riding the wave like a pro. He zoomed up to the top of it catching air and went so far under the wave that even he wasn't sure that the wave wouldn't just run him over. Well there's only one way to find out he thought. It wasn't too far. He zoomed right back up the top. A swooshing noise came from overhead. Luke ducked his head as his sister, Lara, came flying from a nearby cliff on a hang glider. This beach vacation was the best vacation ever. Luke had never been to the beach in his life. This was mostly because of his overprotective mother. She wouldn't even let him set a foot on an airplane. When he had asked her why she had done that, she had hastily changed the subject. Luke loved surfing and he'd discovered that he was really good at it without trying. He felt bad for his sister. His mother wouldn't let Lara close to the water. She'd acted all weird again, like she had when Luke had asked her why he couldn't go on an airplane. Lara didn't seem to mind. Like Luke, she'd found a sport she was really good at. Lara swooped overhead again, looping up and down so fast it made Luke dizzy to watch. Lara swooped down near Luke giving him a playful push and saying, "The sky is the way to fly!" Luke lost his balance and fell off his board. He got up and yelled, "Oh yeah!" A huge wave plucked the hang glider out of the sky. Lara fell into the ocean with a scream. "Oh man," thought Luke. She can't swim. Lara started going under, thrashing frantically. Luke plunged into the water swimming furiously. He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her out of the water. The wind started picking up. Thunder lit up the sky. "It's time for you to leave Luke," a voice said, resonating in his head. "What? Who are you? No! I'm not going anywhere!" A wave towered over Luke, crashing down on him and dragging him out to sea. "Hey stop! Stop it I'll…blub" "I'm sorry Luke. It's for your own good," said the voice. Luke blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke

Luke woke up on a beach. He was completely dry which struck him as odd since he recalled having been in the water before he blacked out. He remembered being swept up by the wave. What had the strange guy whose voice he had heard inside his head meant? It was for his own good for him to be away from his own sister. Well that was weird. Maybe the guy meant it was better to keep him away from her. Luke knew that somehow he had caused the wave to hit his sister's hang glider. He hadn't meant for her to fall in the water and almost drown. He just wanted to get her a little wet like she had tried to. She had tried to. She didn't succeed because Luke simply could not get wet. His friends had tried soaking him or pushing him into the pools at their houses but it had never worked. It was only when Luke wanted to become wet that he did, like when it was really hot outside and he wanted to cool off, when he was taking a bath, etc. Luke got up and looked around him. The sand dunes lead up to a green open area where a group of cabins stood. Luke could see that they were built in some kind of formation although what it was he wasn't sure of from where he was looking at them from. It was evening and the sky was growing darker. Fireflies danced in the woods to his right and all around the edges of the clearing. It was quite pretty here and Luke wouldn't mind spending the night lying on the beach. He was about to settle down and do just that when he heard rustling in the tall grasses at the top of the sand dunes. Luke tensed and then turned around quickly. His heart started to beat faster and his breath came out quickly. His mind jumped into hyper drive. If he could just find a place to hide and see what he was facing first or he could… A teenage boy with jet black hair and green eyes burst out of the grass. He was holding hands with a blond girl with grey eyes like storm clouds. They were laughing and running towards the water. Luke hoped they would run right past him without noticing but no such luck. The dark haired boy halted all of a sudden. The girl halted too. The boy turned to stare at Luke and the girl quickly followed suit. "Err…um…hi!" said Luke awkwardly. "How's it going?" The boy frowned at him and quick as lightning drew a pen from his pocket, uncapping it so that (to Luke's astonishment) it became a glowing sword. "Who are you?" demanded the boy. "I'm Luke." said Luke. There was a long pause and then Luke said, "Guys look, I have no idea how I got here. A giant wave swept me off the beach and some guy in my head said I had to be separated from my sister." The dark haired guy frowned and then recapped his pen sword, much to Luke's relief. "I'm Percy," he said, holding out a hand. "Percy Jackson and this is Annabeth Chase. You've landed at Camp Half Blood. We'll take you to Chiron, our director." He turned and started walking up the sand dune. Luke felt bad. He'd obviously just burst in on a moment between Percy and Annabeth even though they had technically run into him not the other way around. "I'm really sorry to mess up your date guys, honestly," Luke said. Annabeth turned red and looked like she might start yelling at Luke but she sighed and said, "It's ok Luke." They walked up to a large farmhouse. Percy paused at the top of the steps and then knocked on the door. A guy riding a horse stepped out. Luke thought that it was a bit odd that a guy would ride a horse inside a house before he realized that the guy wasn't on a horse. The horse was a part of him. Luke's mouth dropped open. The horse guy frowned, "Percy, Annabeth, what are you doing here? It's almost curfe…" He stopped midsentence having spotted Luke who was still staring openmouthed at him. "You three should come on inside." He turned around and walked inside to a sitting room with some comfy looking red couches. Grape vines wove up and down the walls and above the fire place was a stuffed leopard's head. Or at least Luke thought it was stuffed until it growled at him. He flinched and fell over the coffee table behind him. "You'll have to excuse Seymour," the horse guy said. "He hasn't had a snausage for a while. Annabeth have you got any?" Annabeth fished in her jacket and then pulled one out and tossed it to the stuffed leopard. "The leopard and the grape vines and various masks you'll see in here are a parting gift from our old director Mr. D. He's still on Olympus even after Zeus reopened it. I would say it was a reward for good behavior if it was anyone else." Luke was confused. Had the horse guy said Zeus like the guy who those old Greek dudes used to worship? The horse guy continued talking. "Anyway so my name is Chiron. I'm in charge of this camp here called Camp Half Blood. Who are you? How did you come to be here? Our patrol at the borders reported that no demigods had crossed the boundary." "That's because he came by sea," Percy said. "We found Luke on the beach. He claims the sea swept him up." "It's true Mr. Chiron, sir," piped up Luke. "I heard this weird voice in my head telling me it was time for my sister and me to be separated. The voice said it was for my own good." Chiron frowned. "Did anything happen before you were taken here?" Luke paused a minute before responding, "Yes. My sister almost drowned because an enormous wave took out her hang glider. I think I caused that wave." He faltered. "I mean I wasn't _trying_ to knock her out of the air. I just wanted her to get wet. She'd pushed me off my surfboard and…" His voice died down. Chiron was staring at him and frowning in concentration. Luke realized how childish he sounded but that wasn't why Chiron was frowning. "What is it? Did I do something wrong? I mean besides almost accidentally drowning my sister?" "No..." said Chiron. "It's just that a demigod girl turned up at Camp Jupiter earlier this afternoon with the exact same story."


	3. Chapter 3

**Lara**

Lara's day had been really weird so far. It had been her second day at the beach and her mother still hadn't let her go into the water. It wasn't fair. Even her wimpy little brother got to go swimming and her mother was always trying to protect _him _from something. _No Luke you can't go in an airplane. No Luke you can't bungee jump. No Luke you can't skydive. No Luke you can't take that 200 foot tall rollercoaster. _Then yesterday and today it had been _No Lara there is no way you can go into the water. You don't even know how to swim. _Lara figured that she could learn how to swim by herself and even if she couldn't, she could just ask Luke. Luke was an amazing swimmer. Their mother had signed him up for swim lessons (without signing Lara up as well) only to discover that the swim instructor taught Luke could teach him how to swim. Luke had always been good when it came to water sports. He had always won first place in swim meets and two days ago he had picked up a surfboard and surfed like a pro. Lara felt slightly jealous of him but it's not she had nothing to boast about herself. She'd been skydiving and bungee jumping since she was 5. Out of her backyard tree. Yep, Lara knew that she was crazy but she loved it. She never needed a mattress to land on either. It just seemed like the air slowed her fall. It was almost as if the air was obeying her wishes and that it didn't want Lara to get crushed into a grease spot. That thought was so ridiculous that Lara shook it out of her head every time it surfaced there. So yesterday she had found an old hang glider in the shed behind their beach house and had dusted it off. (It had seemed to dust itself off for her more like) She'd then found the biggest cliff she could and jumped off it. The feeling had been incredible. She had felt like a bird soaring in the sky. Today she had woken early. She and Luke had gulped down their pancakes and run to the beach. She had to promise her mother again that she wouldn't go in the water. Then, she had taken to the sky and Luke had taken to the water. They had been having fun, each in their own element. Then, lunchtime had come. Luke and Lara had gone home and grabbed some lemonade and a couple of sandwiches. Then they had had a rocking picnic. Lara didn't even mind that the bees kept buzzing near their lemonade and they had had to run away from the bees many times. Then, they had climbed in a tree. Lara had challenged Luke to see who could get to the top first. She had won of course. She flew up the branches, literally. Sometimes she wasn't sure if she was even touching the tree as she climbed or just climbing through thin air. Luke had climbed very slowly. The way he struggled up it was as if the air was trying to stop his ascent, pushing him down every stop of the way. "Got it!" he had called triumphantly as he got up to where Lara had been sitting for 15 minutes. "The view is pretty cool from up here." He leaned back against the tree relaxing like Lara was, with hands behind head and legs crossed. "We should stay up here all da—." That's when he had lost his balance and had started falling out of the tree. Lara didn't even think before jumping out of the tree and grabbing her little brother around the waist to stop his fall. The weird part was that she wasn't holding on to anything. They had just stopped falling without any reason. She had hastily grabbed a tree branch so it looked like she had made a lucky save. They had climbed back down. Both were breathing hard and their hearts were pounding. "Thanks, puff puff sis for puff puff saving me. I would've been puff puff a goner without you." He doubled over trying to catch his breath. Lara leaned against the tree catching her breath. "No problem. That's what siblings do." Hmm. That's what siblings do huh? She recalled what had happened next. They had gotten into a huge argument over whether water sports or air sports were better. Then, she had gone hang gliding and he had gone surfing. She had playfully pushed him off of his surf board. Then, something almost weirder than the whole tree incident had happened. He had yelled, "Oh yeah!" Then a giant wave had surged up and literally knocked her hang glider out of the sky. She had been 50 feet in the air, but the wave had hit her, right after her brother had yelled "oh yeah" like he was going to show her. Show her what? His water skills? She had the odd suspicion that the wave was what he was going to show her. He could do that? He could make 50 foot waves rise out of the water? Maybe he had weird powers like that air stuff she could do. _What am I talking about?_ Lara thought to herself. _We're not wizards. It's just a coincidence._ She had fallen into the water and her hang glider had wrecked. Then she felt a downward sucking, like the ocean was determined to bring her to its bottom and drown her. She was sure this was why her mother had warned her to stay away from the water. She had heard screaming that died when water entered her mouth. _It was probably her who had been screaming. _She was going under water and then all of a sudden, the quicksand effect had stopped. She was being lifted out of the water. It was Luke. He had saved her. _Well he had better have_ _saved her after that experience. _She felt grateful anyway and a little ashamed. _What was this? A 14 year old girl who couldn't swim and had to be saved by her puny 13 year old brother? That was embarrassing. Lara was glad nobody had been on the beach with them._ Lara hadn't even had time to thank him though. Another wave that Lara thought could match the one that had taken her out of the sky was bearing down on Luke as he tried to get out of the water. She tried to yell a warning but her voice failed her. That was definitely the biggest wave she had ever seen. She wasn't sure if she should yell "Tsunami" and run or not. Then it had swallowed her brother up and swept back out to sea. He started yelling for it to stop telling it he wouldn't go with it (which Lara thought was oddly amusing even given the present circumstances) and then he had gone under. At this point Lara found that she could move again. She found herself standing on the cliff looking down on the beach, which was odd because she was sure she had been down at the water's edge. A voice rang out in her head. "It is time for you to leave as well Lara." Lara looked around for the speaker of the voice. Nobody was there. It had all been just in her head. _Well I don't want to make a fool of myself yelling out loud like Luke did. Poor Luke. _She had looked over the cliff edge on impulse, hoping to see her brother. Then she realized that's what the voice had wanted her to because she found herself losing her balance for the first time in her life. She tumbled off the cliff. She remembered thinking to herself as she fell. _Well this is good. Now for the first time ever I'm going to find out what it feels like to fall on my face and become a grease spot on that ugly rock over there. That's exactly what I'm always dreamed to do with my life. Now that stupid voice will have what it wants. I'm going to leave too. Oh yeah I'll leave all right. I'm going to depart this life._ She didn't hit the rock and become a grease spot, though. Another gust of wind like the one that had blown into her when she lost her balance came. She went tumbling through the air, flying sideways not down now, away from the shore. _I'm going to be sick. _She thought and then she blacked out.


	4. Chapter 4

Lara woke up feeling very small. She was lying flat on her back staring at the tops of the broad trees surrounding her. The trees stretched for at least a couple hundred feet above where she was lying. She sat up, looking around her. Where was she? How had she come here? She was surrounded by broad, tall trees, like the ones nearest to her, which stretched high into the air, forming a canopy. Afternoon sunlight streamed down on her from gap between the leaves. She guessed that it was about four or five in the afternoon.

The forest around her teemed with wildlife, birds calling to one another, squirrels leaping from tree to tree. She realized that she must be in a redwood forest. That was strange. Hadn't she been on the other side of the country in the morning? Then, she remembered falling off the edge of a cliff, hurtling towards almost certain doom and blacking out. Maybe someone had found her and brought her here. She looked around her, but saw nobody and nothing to suggest that any other human had come here. She decided to set off and see what she could find.

She had been hiking for about twenty minutes of so when she reached the edge of the valley. The trees thinned out and she could see a great expanse of grassy land below her. It was an enormous valley, surrounded on all sides by hills with trees like the ones she had been hiking through. Something caught her eye, a small dark mass on the far side of the valley, a house? Lara glanced over the edge of the valley. The way down was steep and rocky. Lara bent down to tighten the laces on her sneakers before setting off.

She stepped onto the rock below her, which crumbled. She slid, falling ten feet or so before regaining her balance. She stood up, cursing her clumsiness and continued down. She reached two broad, sheer slabs of rocks going straight down. The only way she could continue was by way of a thin crack going straight down between the slabs. Lara grabbed the edge and slid off. The ledge she had been on overhung the crack. She hung onto the ledge, her legs dangling too far out from the crack to reach it. She swung back and forth, trying to get close enough to the cliff to put a foot down. At last, her foot touched the ledge. She let go, leaning forward and grabbing the inside of the crack with her fingers. The rest was easy for her. Lara had been rock climbing since she was five. She practically glided down the crack, jumping about ten feet from the boulder below and landing lightly. She scanned her surroundings. Fog was beginning to creep into the valley. She briefly caught sight of the house-like shape in the distance before it vanished into the fog. Lara slid down the boulder she was standing on and started in the direction of the house.

Everything she had learned from her time spent in the outdoors as a girl scout, rock climber, etc made her feel more and more certain that she shouldn't be travelling in the fog. It would be best to sit where she was and wait until the fog lifted, but Lara didn't care. It was all very well to sit and wait if you knew that someone would come looking for you if you didn't come back, but Lara was pretty sure that nobody knew where she was and that sitting and waiting was just going to make her cold. She stumbled in what she thought was the general direction of the house. At first, every bush she saw looked familiar, like something she had seen on the path to the house, but after a while, they all started looking the same. Lara became convinced that she was travelling in circles. She cursed herself for her stupidity. She sat down on a rock (which looked like the same rock she had passed at least twenty times). Maybe it would be best if she stopped for a bit and waited. After what felt to her like forever, the fog started to seem a little less dense. She could see more than five feet in front of her. As she waited five minutes, ten, fifteen, she could see further and further away. After twenty minutes, the fog was still there, but she could see well enough that she figured she wouldn't be going in circles again. She set off.

She had been walking for about ten minutes when the fog began to thicken again. She didn't notice this until she fell into a shallow ditch, twisting her ankle. She cursed as pain shot up her leg. She stood up, assessing her condition. She could still walk. She looked around her, hoping to see a familiar sign. Nothing. She had given up hope and was going to lay in the ditch and take a nap when she heard a faint sound, like light footsteps on the ground. She could have shouted for relief, but then a thought flashed across her mind. Who said that whatever was out there was friendly? If it had heard her coming and had meant to help her, it could have done so earlier. She tensed, looking around for the sound of the noise, but it had stopped. At this point the fog had grown so thick that she could only see three feet in any direction. That was when the wolf pounced.

Seven years of karate kept Lara alive. She ducked, rolling and coming up behind the wolf. She lunged, kicking out at it with a roundhouse kick, but it moved with astounding speed, leaping into the air and twisting, grabbing her leg in its jaw, pulling her down. She landed hard. The wolf released her leg, lunging at her face. She threw up her forearm to block the wolf. The wolf's claws raked down her arm. But Lara didn't feel the pain, she felt only anger. Her vision turned red. She knocked the wolf aside, using her legs to throw it off her completely. Then, she felt a wrenching in her gut. A split second later a gust of wind slammed into the wolf, throwing it twenty feet into the air. It landed hard on a rock. Lara turned and ran, sprinting like she never had before, ignoring the throbbing in her ankle and leaping over boulders and small ditches. She glanced back into the fog, straining to see any signs of motion, but she saw none. She relaxed. That was when she heard the snarling. She started to get up, a moment too late, when the wolf burst out of the fog and leaping, pining Lara to ground. Then, to her astonishment, it snarled, "Never turn your back on your enemies. It may just be the last thing you ever do."


	5. Chapter 5

Luke

There was a pause as everybody processed the information. Then Luke said excitedly, "It's my sister! It's got to be her! Is this camp nearby? Can I talk to her?" He looked at Chiron expectantly. Chiron hesitated and then said, "No the other camp,Camp Jupiter is in San Francisco. That's practically..." "On the other side of the country..." Luke finished. "Can I talk to her then?" Chiron began, sounding very regretful. "No Luke its best that you don't. If you two were separated it was for a good reason." "Oh. And that would be?" Luke demanded. Chiron changed the subject quickly. "I should tell you more about this camp. It is a camp to train demigods and-." "Demi-whats?" asked Luke. "Demigods," said Chiron. "Children of mortals and Greek/Roman gods." Luke frowned. "Like the ones those old Greek and Roman guys used to worship? I thought those were myths." "They aren't," said Chiron. "Here at this camp all of the sons and daughters of Greek gods and goddesses gather to learn how to fight monsters and become heroes." "Sweet!" said Luke and then he paused and frowned. "Wait so you're saying that my long lost dad is some Greek god?" "Yep that's about right," said Percy. Percy looked like he was going to say more but then the air in the room started shimmering. An image of a wolf appeared out of this air. Luke yelped and almost jumped out of his seat. "Chiron," the wolf said. Then she went rapid fire mode in Latin. Chiron paled and then said, "Very well. We should discuss this in more detail in the morning. Good evening, Lupa." The air shimmered again and the image disappeared. "I'm not sure how this is possible," said Chiron to himself, frowning. "For now, please show Luke to Cabin 11. He will stay there until he is claimed. Goodnight everyone." He got up and walked down the hall and into a room. Percy and Annabeth stood up. "We should show you to Cabin 11," Percy said.


	6. Chapter 6

Luke

Percy and Annabeth took Luke to Cabin 11. Percy knocked on the cabin's door. A dark haired boy with a mischievous look on his face opened the door. "Hermes cabin, how may I help you? Oh Hi Percy! Hi Annabeth! Just practicing my phone answering skills. We just got a phone put in here and Travis says I have to answer it every time that guy who sells us stink bombs and lock picks, oops I mean goods, calls. What do you think of it?" Annabeth frowned at the boy. "We're not allowed to have phones at camp cause of the monsters. You know that Connor." Connor smiled a sneaky underhanded smile. "I know we have it and you know we have it but does Chiron know we have it? Or the stink bombs, I mean goods?" Annabeth rolled her eyes at Connor. "Luke this is Connor Stoll. He and his twin Travis are the head counselors of the Hermes cabin. Just a word of advice, don't leave anything you value in plain sight near these guys." Connor looked offended and said, "Hey!" Annabeth said, "Well it's true. And while you're at it, give me back my wallet. I know you took it." Connor reluctantly stuck his hand in his pocket and handed a simple looking brown wallet with an owl on it back to her. "We're really not that bad Luke," he muttered to Luke. "Really. She owed me money." Annabeth looked indignant. "No I didn't! I would've remembered that!" She took back her wallet and counted the bills. "Give me my 20, Connor." Connor swore under his breath and fished in his pocket. He handed her back a 20 dollar bill. "Really Annabeth. I think you may owe me a 20. Really. Some bet from long ago. A favor I did for you." Annabeth looked at him with an expression that Luke thought meant: I will gut you like a fish if you don't stop annoying me. Wow. He did not want to get on Annabeth's bad side. Connor saw that expression too. "Got it, yep. No I was just kidding; no money owed." He turned to Luke and made an expression like: Can you believe her? Luke was glad he had nothing with him except for the clothes on his back. The Stoll twins and the other Hermes cabin campers wouldn't try to steal those from him, he hoped. Connor said, "Well it's almost lights out. Luke, you can have that mattress on the floor. If you don't mind it having been a dead counselor's mattress, that is. Nobody wanted to sleep on it after that so we ordered a new one from Willie Johnson, another son of Hermes. He's our stink bomb, er good, supplier as well." Swearing came from inside the cabin. A boy who looked exactly like Connor to the last detail shoved him out of the way. "Connor, you idiot! Now they're gonna tell Chiron about our goods! I'm Travis Stoll, Luke. This is my idiot brother Connor if he didn't introduce himself. Yep so you're going to get Luke Castellan's old bed. Nobody wanted it after he died. Thought his ghost would haunt this. What losers! Anyway so it's yours. Well, either that or the floor. It's your choice cause that's our last mattress." Luke looked at mattress. He watched a lot of Ghostbusters so he wasn't too thrilled about some dead guy with his same name haunting him but he had to look brave. "Yeah sure. I'll take it." Travis quickly closed the door after a hasty goodbye to Percy and Annabeth. "At least she won't be turning us in today. She's thinking about Luke. I saw her get **the look** on her face." Connor resurfaced from the bunk he had been shoved into. "Not **THE LOOK**!" he said in mock horror. "Yes, it's **the look**." Said Travis. Luke looked confused. "What look?" He asked. Travis and Connor exchanged their own "look". Luke was getting fed up of this "look" business when Connor said, "Annabeth really used to like Luke Castellan cause he was like her big brother. They met when she was a 7 year crazy child running away from her family. Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and Hunter of Artemis, watched over her. Then right before Percy came to camp she started getting all drooley over Luke. And the whole Aphrodite cabin was like, 'Lukabeth is going to be soooo adorable.' What losers those Aphrodite campers are. Anyway, so Annabeth's face gets all weird and scrunchy when someone mentions Luke now... She looks sort of like a possum when she does that." A small girl in pink pajamas yelled, "I'm telling Annabeth you said that." Travis creamed her with a pillow. "No telling Annabeth. I value my face." He turned back to Luke. "So anyway. This is Cabin 11, the fun cabin." A pillow hit his head. He whipped around and yelled, "The next moron who hits me in the head with a pillow will wake up with shaving cream on their face and their eyebrows gone." He turned back to Luke again. "All in good fun, Luke." Connor ran up to Travis. "Travis! The TV's coming in this night. You remember what Willie said in his last Iris message." Connor cursed and then yelled, "Lights out in 10 minutes." He turned to Travis. "Alright. But it's your turn to get the goods. ." He then turned and faced Luke. "Hey Luke. Do you want to go with Connor and see the Hermes cabin in action?" Luke thought it would be fun. "Sure!" he said. The lights went out 10 minutes later. Then, Connor said, "Let's go Luke!" They snuck out of the door into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

The wolf snarled again and then to Lara's great surprise leapt to her side and said, "Well get up then. I haven't got all day."

Lara scrambled to her feet hastily, eyeing the wolf warily. "What-, who are you?" she asked.

The wolf snorted and started trotting off into the fog. "This isn't the right place," it said. "You will know all when we get there."

"Get where? Where are we going? How did you learn to talk?" she called. The wolf ignored her. Lara sighed and followed it.

They went on for about ten minutes until the house Lara had seen from the hilltops came into sight. It was a burnt wreck. Wolves began coming into sight, popping up behind Lara and to her side, snarling at her. For the first time, Lara wished that she really **was** a magician. She wouldn't mind making the wolves go "POOF!" The wolf that had attacked her gestured with its snout towards the house. Lara hesitated and then followed. The wolf padded through the house, going into a court yard in the back of the house. The court yard was lined with cobblestones. There was an enormous ragged hole in one corner of it. Lara didn't want to know what had happened there. The wolf gestured for Lara to sit. She sat on a small stone near the courtyard wall. The wolf padded back out of the courtyard. Lara heard snarling from outside the courtyard for several minutes. Then, the wolf padded back in.

"My wolves have been asking me to let them eat you," the wolf said matter-of-factly. Lara didn't know what to respond, so she didn't.

"I told them not to. You have proven yourself worthy. But know what fate will expect you if I change my mind."

"Err…thanks I think?" Lara said, then burst out, "What do you mean by 'proving myself worthy', though? Worthy of what? And who are you? Where are we and what do you want?"

The wolf growled. Lara was afraid that she had said too much, but then she realized that the wolf was laughing.

"You have spunk, girl. I like that. You have proven yourself worthy of living. Every demigod who comes through here must prove that they are worthy of living, that they have what it takes to be warriors of Rome."

Lara frowned, "Err, sorry. You've lost me at the demigod thing. What is a demigod?"

The wolf sighed, "I forget how little you all know when you first come here. A demigod is the descendant of a mortal and one of the Roman gods of Olympus."

Lara frowned. She didn't usually pay very much attention in English class, but she remembered something…

"Like, um Poseidon and Zeus and them? I'm pretty sure those are stories those old Greek fools told each other to explain lightning and stuff…"

The wolf sighed, "First off, those are the Greek aspects of the gods. Neptune and Jupiter would be the names the Romans would use. Second, when have you ever met a talking wolf before? I'm pretty sure your science can't explain that."

Lara frowned, then looked annoyed. "This must be one of those weird dreams I have sometimes. I'll wake up in a second or two with Luke laughing at me for talking in my sleep." She got up and started to leave, but the wolf snarled and leapt at her, slamming into her from behind. Lara fell over backwards, smacking her head on the concrete. She sat up slowly, rubbing her head.

"Ow! Ok I get it, this isn't a dream. Right, so my dad's a Roman god and you're…what exactly are you?"

The wolf puffed out its chest. "I am Lupa, guardian of Rome. Surely you've heard stories about me?"

"Err, sorry, no" Lara replied.

Lupa snorted, "Everyone has heard of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. But do they hear about the wolf that saved the twins from almost certain doom? No! Without me they would've died in some riverbed. I'm pretty sure nobody would've told stories about them then!" She sighed. "Anyways, so as I was saying, I am the guardian of Rome. As the center of western civilization has shifted to America, so have major sites in the Olympians' world. Mt Olympus is in New York now, the underworld in under LA, etc, etc, etc. So also ancient Rome has shifted. It is now located just about twenty miles from here. I am the guardian of New Rome, the training center for Roman demigods. It is my job to choose which demigods are worthy to go on to New Rome, and which ones are not."

Lara shivered, trying not to imagine the fate in store for anyone Lupa did not think worthy to go on. She took a deep breath and then said, "Right, so you said my dad's a Roman god, right? Do you know him? Will I get to meet him?"

"So many questions! I have met all of the Roman Olympian gods, but I do not know which one is your father, although I have my own theories. If you reach Camp Jupiter, you will most likely be claimed there. As for getting to meet him, that depends on him, not every demigod meets his/her godly parent. You will stay here for a few days and train. When I feel that you are ready, you will go on to Camp Jupiter." Lupa got up and padded back towards the house. Lara stood to follow her. Immediately, dark spots danced before her eyes and she felt nauseous. She sank to her knees. When she had recovered, the wolf, Lupa was back at her side. The wolf placed a square object in her hands.

"Eat," she growled. Lara lifted the square to her mouth and cautiously took a bite. Immediately, she felt warmth spread through her body. She could feel the throbbing in her ankle and the pounding in her head begin to lessen.

Lupa padded towards the house. "Rest now. Your training will begin in the morning."


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, you're obviously not destined to be an archer." Amy sighed as she pulled an arrow out of a redwood about 20 ft away from the target Lara was supposed to be shooting at. "Let's go down to the forge and try another weapon. I'll take my bow back before you taint it with your lack of skill." Lara was about to make a heated comeback but she saw Amy's eyes twinkling and realized that Amy was joking. She gave Amy a playful shove. "Yeah, that would be a tragedy, wouldn't it?" She said. They got to the forge. Amy walked down the stone steps first and then opened the door. A wave of heat hit them as they walked inside. "Who's there?" called a voice. "It's Amy. I've got the new camper. She needs a weapon so I came here to see what you could do for her." There was a shuffling noise and then a curly brown hair covered head appeared from under a table. A second later the boy jumped up from under the table. "Hi there!" he said. "I'm Zeke. Zeke Williams." "Hi Zeke." Said Amy. "This is Lara Pride. She needs a weapon for her testing tomorrow." Zeke nodded, but looked grim. He shook his head and put on a cheerful expression again. "So Lara. Do you like swords, spears, axes, or bows best?" Amy quickly said, "No bows for her, please Zeke," before Lara could speak. Zeke laughed. "Ok then. I guess I'll just have to have you try out our other weapons. We have a 'loan system'. We loan you a weapon for the testing and if you like it, you can keep it. Otherwise, you can have a weapon custom made upon getting Lupa's permission and, oh yeah, you have to pass the test first." He went into a small room in the back right corner of the crowded forge. He motioned for Lara and Amy to follow him. In the room was a medium brown colored table that was badly scratched and covered with weapons. "So, what looks good? A battle axe?" Lara glanced at the battle ax. She imagined herself holding one of those things and thought faintly of the dwarves from the Lord of the Rings. "No, definitely not." Zeke handed her a sword. "Ok. Here have a go." Lara felt rather foolish standing there. She waved it around like she was a Jedi Knight from Star wars and nearly cut Zeke's head off. Zeke ducked and it barely shaved a good inch off of his curly hair. "No definitely not. Let's try a spear shall we?" He took the sword back quickly and handed Lara a spear. The spear grew hot in her hand and she suddenly knew what to do with it even though she'd never held a spear in her life. She twirled it like a drumstick and mimed a strike." Zeke looked thrilled and said excitedly, "Yes, yes, YES! This is the one for you! It's yours for the test!" A trumpet sounded outside. "Dinnertime!" said Zeke. They all scrambled out of the forge and to their respective cabins. Lara dropped off the spear on her bunk and hoped that nobody would steal it since the Mercury cabin was famous for its thieves. Everyone was already at dinner when she got there so she slipped hastily into a seat next to Matt. Everyone got up all of a sudden and went to a campfire and started emptying the best parts of their meals into a fire. "What are they doing?" Lara asked Matt. Matt turned around and said, "They're sacrificing to the gods." Lara copied everyone else and sat down. They had hot dogs with salad and potato chips. Matt taught Lara how to make a drink appear in her cup by asking for it so they had a good time making purple soda appear in their cups. They were just having a good laugh about a magenta color Lara had asked for when a face appeared near the head table where Lupa sat. Lara almost knocked the magenta soda into Matt's face because she flinched so hard. A young business man-looking person appeared as if through a misty cloud. A split second later she realized he wasn't actually there in person. This was sort of like one of those holographic images in those sci-fi movies her brother and his friends watched. She had thought those were rather stupid at the time, but if this was one of those image things from the movies, she was a die-hard fan from now on, because this was sweet. She wished she had one of those holographic generators. She could scare the sense out of her brother with them. She looked around. Nobody else had flinched quite as violently as she had. In fact, many of them only looked mildly surprised. _Well then, _she thought. _This must be a regular thing here. Welcome to the future Lara! Wait... is it the future? Those old roman god people aren't exactly real future looking…Well if they got those cool spacesuits, maybe but… _She was brought back to her surroundings by Lupa. Lupa bowed her head and said respectfully, "Lord Mercury." She paused for a moment as everyone else followed her example. Lara quickly followed the others. _Wait, Mercury? No way!_ She thought._ This guy is that messenger dude from Roman mythology. No don't call it mythology. That guy's not exactly a myth is he? And if he's as powerful as the myths, no stories, say, he could fry me to a crisp. _Lupa continued, still in that respectful tone, her powerful commanding voice merely a quiet tone now. _Wow, I know I first met Lupa today but I don't think she talks like that very often. _Thought Lara. "What brings you here?" Mercury turned to Lara's table and nodded, "Hey kids. How's it going?" The Mercury cabin kids all responded, "Hey dad!" or "How's it going, dad?" and waved. Lara felt the sudden feeling she didn't belong here and she had the feeling that Mercury knew that too. He studied her with a curious expression and then turned back to Lupa. "Oh yes. I'm here because of **the problem**. We are having a meeting on Olympus and Zeus has requested that you and Chiron attend it." The blackberry in his suit pocket vibrated and Lara heard a hissing female voice in her mind. "Mercury, you have a call on line 1. It's Neptune." She looked around the room and then at the others, whom she could see were as confused as she was. Where was it coming from? Then, her eye fell on the cell phone, where, inchworms were wrapped around a small antenna extending from the top of it. One of the inchworms waved its tail in her direction, while the other hissed. "We're not inchworms," said the hissing inchworm's indignant male voice in her head. "We're snakes. Dang it Mercury! Can we become full size now? This form is pa-the-tic! They always mistake us for inchworms! Can I have a rat, by the way? Martha got the last one." The inchworm, er snake, who had first spoken, who Lara assumed was Martha, wacked the male snake with her tail. "Oh stop it George. Oh course they think you're an inchworm. What do you expect? You're small, ugly and green. Mercury, you really should take this call. You remember the last time you ignored Neptune? He put water in your-" Mercury turned to the blackberry with an impatient sigh, "Yes, well tell him I'm in a meeting. That worked well when Ceres called when I was talking to Percy Jackson." Martha made what sounded like a "tut-tut" and relayed the message on to Neptune. Mercury turned back to Lupa. "The meeting is in 30 minutes. We expect you there." Then, the image dissolved. There was utter silence for a minute and then the whole pavilion broke out into conversation at once. "He said there was a big problem. I wonder what it is," said a small boy from the Venus cabin. "He should have us handle it," said a muscular Mars cabin boy. "We could stop it easily." He cracked his knuckles. "My dad looked really worried," said Matt to Lara. "This problem must be a big thing. And it's really weird that Lupa and Chiron've got to go to Mount Olympus. Something serious must be up." Lupa snarled and it became silent. "As you all heard, I've got to go to Olympus. Lights are to be out at 9 this evening. You are dismissed from dinner." Everyone got up and went quickly from the pavilion, murmuring quietly amongst themselves. "So what's with the whole holographic god thing?" asked Lara. Matt laughed. "You make it sound like some sci-fi film. My dad, Mercury, sent us an Iris message. Iris is the goddess of the rainbow and if you find a place with mist and throw a gold drachma in-"

"A what?" asked Lara. Matt slapped his forehead. "Oh yeah, you're new to this stuff. Drachmas are immortals' money. Anyway so you throw 1 drachma into the mist as an offering to Iris and she gives you a 3D connection with the other person. This," he said pulling out a large gold coin, "Is a drachma." They reached the cabin. Everyone changed into their night clothes and the lights were turned off. Lara drifted off to sleep soon. Then, she was suddenly awoken. A eerie wind was whistling through the cabin. She could normally control the wind, but this wind was uncontrollable. "Soon," It seemed to whisper. "Soon, I will have my revenge." _Well that's odd. _Thought Lara. _Somehow, I don't think that's something that happens very often._ She looked around. Everyone else was still sleeping. They hadn't heard the wind. Lara knew she wouldn't be able to back asleep easily after the eerie wind experience so she slipped on her shoes and crept out into the night.


	9. Chapter 9

Luke was excited about sneaking out at night. It was so cool that Connor let him come along to pick up the "goods". Luke thought that the Hermes cabin kids were really cool with their laid-back attitude about everything. He found himself hoping he could be in this cabin. It would be cool to have these guys as his brothers and sisters but somehow, he had the feeling that this wasn't his cabin. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he knew it was true. They tiptoed quietly through the grass, and down to the beach. Luke was glad that Travis had stolen him a pair of shoes and a camp T-shirt from the camp store because walking around in swim clothes when everyone else was wearing jeans and t-shirts was a little weird. "Duck!" hissed Connor. He and Luke quickly hid behind a sand dune as an odd little figure flew by. She (was it a she?) looked sort of like an odd mix between a little old grandma and a chicken. When she/it had gone, Connor whispered, "That's a harpy. They make sure that nobody is breaking the curfew. Apparently they messily devour anyone who they catch out after hours. I'm never tested the theory myself." _Well that's encouraging._ Thought Luke. They reached the waterfront and walked along it. The beach narrowed into a thin strip only about a foot and a half wide. On one side was the gently ebbing tide and on the other side was a steep bank up to the dark forest. Nighttime owls called out to one another and cicadas chirped. After about a ten minute walk, they came to a point where the "path" ended. The beachfront turned in a small, flat area and the forest stopped abruptly. There, in the center of this area was a tall guy with dark brown hair in a business suit. Connor walked forward quickly and Luke jogged to keep up with him. "Ah, Will. Thanks for coming with the …." He broke off very suddenly and looked very embarrassed. "Dad? Um what are you doing here?" Luke realized that the guy was Hermes, Travis and Connor Stoll's dad. Hermes looked at Connor with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Delivering the goods, of course," he said. "Unless you'd much rather wait for Will to deliver them…" Connor looked embarrassed. "Sorry," he said. Hermes didn't look very offended at all, however. "You asked what I was doing here. I'm here to deliver a message to Chiron. This spot here is a favorite landing place of mine, part of the reason that you come here often." He looked pointedly at Connor. He then noticed Luke, who was standing a little behind Connor and feeling very awkward to be caught in some sort of family reunion. Connor followed Hermes' gaze and then said, "Oh yeah. Luke this is my dad, Hermes. Dad, this is Luke Pride. He's staying in our cabin until he's determined." Hermes held out his hand and Luke shook it. _Ok then. At least it's not the whole bow down on one knee thing. I mean that would be a little weird since it is the 21__st__ century. _He thought. Luke looked back at Connor. "Hey, man. I'll …well... I'll go back to camp and leave you some time with your dad. Nice to meet you, Hermes." He started walking back to the camp. "Hey it's ok little dude," said Connor. "And I still do need someone to help me with the goods… and …."

"Connor's right," said Hermes. "As for the goods…" He snapped his fingers and they vanished. "All in Cabin 11. As for going to camp, I happen to be headed that way myself so let's walk." They set off into the night. The night had turned cool and a sharp sea breeze swept over them and into the trees. Luke shivered as it cut through his thin t-shirt. He wished that he had had his windbreaker with him when he had arrived at camp. Hermes stopped and cursed in ancient Greek. "What is it?" asked Connor. "I left my blackberry at the beach." "I'll go get it!" offered Luke. "Where are your manners, Connor?" Cut in Hermes. "Stop moving, both of you." Both boys froze, Luke as he was moving as quickly as he could moving in the direction of the beach and Connor as he was moving just as quickly in the opposite direction. "Why don't you go get me the phone?" Connor grumbled and then set off towards the beach. They both watched Connor's retreating figure and then Hermes turned to Luke and said, "Come, Luke." Luke highly suspected that the whole thing had been a set up but said nothing. They continued walking in silence for a few more moments and then Hermes said, "I saw your sister at the Legion Camp today." Luke instantly forgot about everything else and exclaimed excitedly, "How is she? Is she doing alright? Did she …" Hermes held up his hand to stop Luke's random outburst of questions. "She seems to be doing fine. She apparently made quite an entrance into the camp but that's another story for another day. I wanted to tell you the only known reason that the two of you were separated. This is that you two are two different types of demigods. You are a child of a Greek-form god and a mortal and while she is a child of a Roman-form god and a mortal and the two types have separate camps and training styles. I do not know who your godly parent is. This in itself is very strange because usually gods and goddesses make this known to each other, but nobody has any idea about your sister and you. Tomorrow, your sister will be in a battle to prove her worth at the camp and all demigod children at that camp are claimed there and then if they can prove themselves. Then, it will be apparent who your godly parent is as well." Luke looked worried and said, "You said "if" she proves her worth. What happens if she doesn't? I mean, I don't doubt her abilities or anything like that…" Hermes looked sympathetically at Luke. "I understand your concern. I believe that your sister will be fine, so we don't really need to talk about what would happen if she were to fail; it makes for an unpleasant conversation topic." Luke nodded, reassured, and then a few thoughts came into his head at once and he frowned. "Then, you must have some ideas about my sister's power." Hermes nodded. "Theories, nothing more." Luke continued. "Will I have to do some sort of test like that? I don't really think I'd be ready for that sort of thing and from what you say, failure doesn't really sound like a great alternative." Hermes laughed. "No, no. Here at Camp Half Blood, there isn't such a test." They came into sight of the beach onto which Luke had first landed and then Hermes continued thoughtfully. "In any case, I do not think that you would do so badly either. You may not be aware of it but from what I know, you may be as powerful as your sister is. But now I must go see Chiron. We shall meet again, Lucas Pride." He shook hands with Luke, ruffled Luke's hair and then strode purposefully towards the Great House. Luke watched him go until he had opened the door to the Great House and disappeared inside it. He stared in that direction lost in thought. _His sister was powerful. He had known that. Somehow, he had guessed that her skills were a result of her godly parent. Then, how could Hermes say that he would be powerful too? They were related to each other, yet he had none of his sister's skill when it came to anything air related. It was such a relief not to have to take a do or die test as well, but what if his "test" came in another form. Maybe they didn't need a test. He would obviously be in the same cabin as his sister, wouldn't he?_ "Luke! Huff… Puff… Luke, have you seen my dad?" Luke nodded. "He went into the Great House to talk to Chiron about something or other." Connor looked slightly miffed. "Well he could've waited here til I got back. I ran all the way back. Oh well, who cares. Have you seen this thing closely, by the way? He's got those two snakes from that old caduceus thing on it. I think they look a bit like inchworms personally, but they get really irritated if you call them inchworms." He showed Luke tiny fang marks on his left hand. "Nice work, George." Said a hissing voice in Luke's head. Luke realized it was one of the snakes. He also realized that it was addressing the other snake, which was probably George. The snake continued. "See, now you're made us look bad and Luke won't bring me a rat, will you Luke?" Luke thought the idea was rather revolting but said, "Rat, uh yeah sure! Yep, I can bring you a rat. Small, medium or large?" The other snake broke in, "Extra large please. And bring two so that Martha the fatty over there doesn't get more rat than I do!" The other snake, Martha, hissed at George. The snakes started play fighting on the cell phone. Connor cleared his throat. "Yep, so I'll go bring the phone to my dad. You should get to Cabin 11 quickly. The harpies might come for a second round." Connor left with the cell phone. "Don't forget the rats!" called George. Luke ran quickly through the cool, moist grass and slipped quietly into the warmth of the Hermes cabin.


	10. Chapter 10

As she fell, disoriented, spiraling faster and faster downward, Lara had the time to fully appreciate the utter stupidity of her plan. No magical gust of wind was going to come and bring her home. That was just a desperate thought. Now, she was going to end up as a grease spot. At least that was better than being wolf food. Or if she became wolf food, she wouldn't live long enough to know about it. Panic welled up in her chest. She wanted to scream but no noise came out when she opened her mouth. The trees around her blurred, she couldn't hear anything except the wind rushing in her ears. As she fell, she instinctively knew her altitude. 50 feet…40 feet...SHUT UP VOICE…20 feet….15….10. She was going to die. This time she was sure of it. And then she stopped so suddenly that black spots danced it her eyes. She looked around her. She was surrounded by wolves staring dumbly up at her.

"Hi guys." She said. Then, she fainted.

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was how uncomfortable she was. She was propped against the stone wall of the courtyard. Her entire body ached like she had run a marathon. She felt light headed and a little nauseous. She shifted a little, trying to uncramp her muscles. She sensed a movement on the far side of the courtyard and looked up. Lupa padded briskly over to her.

"That was downright foolish girl. What were you thinking pulling a prank like that? You could've died and then I would've had to fill out paperwork. Gods of Olympus I hate paperwork!" She huffed, padding back and forth, which was seriously not helping Lara's dizziness. "Well congratulations, at least now we all know who your godly parent is."

"Not following you." Lara said, confused. "How does falling 200 feet out of a tree say anything about my godly parent…unless, is there a god of stupidity?"

"That would explain a lot," Lupa muttered in an undertone before saying, "It's not so much the jumping out of the tree, as the fact that you survived. You fell 200 feet out of a tree yet you stopped falling about 10 feet before you hit the ground and would have been flattened like a pancake. It's almost as if you had willed the air to stop you." She looked pointedly at Lara.

"What are you trying to – oh, ohhh,"Lara said, understanding her meaning. "So my dad is –"

"Jupiter, god of the sky and lightning, king of the gods, "Lupa said. The wind blew all around them and there was a blinding flash of lighting. Then the wind died, just as suddenly as it had come.

"Seriously?" snapped Lupa. "All the other gods can settle with a hologram but he has to do **that **every time. Well, at least it's not like what Chiron said _Aphrodite _did to claim one of her daughters. The girl looked like a fashion model for an entire week and hated every minute of it."

"Who's Chiron?" asked Lara.

"Like I've already said, there is a Roman camp called Camp Jupiter. Chiron directs the Greek counterpart, Camp Half-Blood," Lupa replied.

"So I'm going to go to Camp Jupiter?" Lara said. "Cool! Right, so this whole flying thing, how does it work? Do I have to say some magic word or something?"

Lupa snorted. "Not that I've heard of. Remember how you used it last time, will yourself to fly."

Lara rolled her eyes. "Like that's going to work. I want to fly NOW!"

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Lara sighed and closed her eyes. She thought about the feeling of sitting in the top of the tree, of looking down on the valley around her, and feeling like there was nothing that could stop her. She felt a tug in her gut and a sudden feeling of weightlessness. She opened her eyes and looked down and yelped. She was about ten feet off the ground. She was so surprised, she almost fell out of the air, but then caught herself. She looked around her. This was cool, she thought. She looked up at the top of the tree and concentrated for a moment. She shot up like a rocket. Lara panicked. _How do I stop? _ _Oh yeah, I just have to think about it._ She slowed, stopping about some 200 feet above the tree. In spite of herself, in spite of the craziness of the situation she was in, she found herself laughing as she zoomed through the air, becoming better and better at controlling the wind currents. She found herself automatically noting her altitude, her speed, and the temperature of the air around her. She marveled at the view of the valley below her and the cliffs all around her. And then as she was flying along, it hit her. She landed in front of the courtyard five minutes later and ran up to Lupa.

"So you think your brother might be at Camp Half-Blood?" Lupa said finally, summing up everything Lara had told her for the past 15 minutes in a single sentence. Lara nodded.

"I will contact Chiron and see if the boy is there. " Lupa said, and was about to continue when a wolf came bounding up to Lupa. The wolf told Lupa (Lara couldn't be sure, she didn't speak wolf) that she needed to come quickly.

Lupa looked at Lara. "I will see what I can do." She turned to leave, but then looked back and said, "Don't get into any trouble. On a second thought, come back to the courtyard and wait there."

Lupa bounded off, and Lara followed, more slowly. She got to the courtyard and plopped down, feeling annoyed that Lupa had run off without trying to contact this Chiron and find her lost brother. To her, there was nothing more important than her family, no matter how annoying they sometimes were. What could be so important anyways? Lara decided to find out.

As she was creeping around the edge of the courtyard towards the front of the burned out house where Lupa supposedly was, she reflected, yet again, on the stupidity of her plan. She was trying to sneak up on a **wolf. ** She continued creeping towards the wolf.

Lupa was indeed at the front of the house. As Lara got closer, she could hear Lupa's voice, and the voice of a stranger. She understood what they were saying, but their voices sounded different, as if they were talking in another language.

"-the girl is not ready for this. She has barely begun using her power. She has no idea of the role she will have to play and the danger that she will face."

Lara felt a surge of annoyance. Lupa hadn't told her any of this, yet she seemed fine talking to some random stranger about it. Wasn't that nice?

"-she will learn as she goes. The others from Camp Jupiter will help her."

"-and what if she doesn't make it that far? You know what awaits her between here and there."

"If she is indeed the one, she will do fine. If not…" the voice broke off and then continued quickly, "Of course the others will meet her before she reaches the camp, so she may not need to worry about…" Again the voice trailed off.

"And what of the-" Lupa stopped abruptly and turned in the direction of where Lara stood. Lara swore under her breath and looked for a place to hide.

There was no place to hide, the nearest tree was 100 ft out. She would be revealing herself by making a dash for it. The only place to go was…up. Lara closed her eyes and thought about being about 20 feet above where she was now. She opened her eyes and found herself gliding slowly up. She grinned in spite of herself. This was so cool, this was- She froze. Lupa had rounded the corner. Lara froze in midair, pressing herself against the gray wall of the house. Maybe she wouldn't look up. Lupa turned. Lara used that opportunity to shoot up to the level of the broken roof. She swung over onto the inside of the wall, peering over. A tall man with graying brown hair was walking to where Lupa stood.

"What is it?" he asked.

"There was something here," Lupa replied, sniffing the ground. "It smells like her scent. Oh when I find her, she's going to wish she'd-"

"Maybe that was from earlier?" suggested the stranger, seeming eager to placate the angry wolf.

"What, you don't think I would be able to tell if it was?" snapped Lupa irritably. She shook her mane. "That's not the point. The girl will be there at the agreed time." She turned and trotted off, muttering something about finding someone and doing something to them. The stranger walked off into the woods. Lara waited until they were both out of sight and then dropped from the roof. She waited until she was five feet from the ground before slowing herself down. She began to walk cautiously, but with purpose in the direction Lupa had gone.

"Lara." Lara jumped and whirled around so quickly that she almost lost her balance.

The stranger had reappeared. He stood about 10 yards behind her, watching her. Lara looked at him nervously. She was sure that any second he was going to call Lupa, and when Lupa found her-

"I'm not going to call Lupa," the stranger said, as if reading her mind. He gave her a reassuring smile and gestured at a nearby tree log.

"Sit," he said, taking a seat on the log. Lara hesitated, then sat next to him.

"How much did you hear?"

"I heard you and Lupa talking about…me. How there will be a danger," she paused, and then added, more quietly, "and I won't be ready for it." Lara felt struck by worry and self-doubt. She was reminded that she was the most alone she had ever been in her entire life, surrounded by a world that was so complex that she couldn't even begun to understand it…and she was supposed to face it, the worse it had to offer.

The stranger smiled sympathetically. "It is a lot to deal with at one time, isn't it? But don't worry, Lupa always has been a bit of a pessimist, I'm sure you're going to be just fine."

"But what am I going to face?" asked Lara.

"It is a little unclear, even to the gods of Olympus, exactly what you will find. I believe that you will find the shell of a broken man."

"A broken man?" Lara echoed, puzzled.

"I'm sorry, I cannot tell you more. There are strict rules on interfering in the quests of demigods."

"What quest?"

"Tomorrow, you will travel north towards a place called Camp Jupiter, training camp of the demigods. Along the way, you will meet two demigods, a boy and a girl. They will tell you everything that you need to know."

He stood up and started heading back into the forest.

"Wait," called Lara. The stranger paused, and glanced back at her.

"Who are you?" she said.

"On Mount Olympus, they call me Mercury," he said simply, then added with a mischievous smile, "But you may call me the Grand Host of Travelers, Supreme Lord of Thieves, Superman..."

"I think I'll just stick with Mercury," Lara said.


	11. Chapter 11

"Wake up!"

Lara muttered something incomprehensible and turned over on the hard ground of the courtyard. Lupa rolled her eyes, and then snarled loudly. Lara sat bolt upright and looked around, then scowled at Lupa.

"Was that really necessary?"

"I believe it was."

Lara looked around her blearily. The faint light of predawn hung on the horizon and faintly illuminated her surroundings. The morning air was cool, and as dew settled on her bare arms, she shivered and rubbed her hands on her arms to keep warm.

"You will need to leave as soon as possible. You will meet a boy and a girl from Camp Jupiter. You will journey with them; they will tell you what you need to know to survive."

Lara shivered, remembering Mercury's words.

"From the front of the house, you will travel northwest until you reach a steep hill overlooking the city mortals call San Francisco. They will be expecting you there at three. Go now, or you will not make it in time. Best of luck, daughter of Jupiter."

Lara turned to walk in the direction Lupa had indicated.

"Oh, and Lara," Lupa added. "Most mortals aren't accustomed to seeing flying children, so I'd advise that you stay on the ground as much as possible."


	12. Chapter 12

Luke woke up very suddenly. That was understandable as he had been smacked in the face with something soft – a pillow? He blinked and looked around. A boy stood grinning to his left. "S'about time you woke up. You would've slept right through breakfast and the breakfast around here is the bomb." The boy leaned over, his curly brown hair going into his eyes as he reached to pick up the pillow in case he had to use it again. "I'm Jack. What's your name?" Luke blinked. Jack talked as fast as a monkey on caffeine would – if monkeys could talk that is. "I'm Luke." Jack held out a hand to Luke. Luke took it and Jack pulled him up. Jack clapped Luke on the back. "Well, Luke. Let's go. Cause I'm gonna cream you in the face again if you make me miss my bacon and eggs. Everyone else has probably already started eating." Jack looked so crestfallen at that thought that it made Luke want to laugh. He hurried out of the Hermes cabin with his newfound friend.

The dining pavilion was already jam packed by the time Luke and Jack got there. Jack scrambled to get a plate, jumping up onto the seats of the picnic benches, and dodging around unsuspecting campers like a bullet. Luke followed in Jack's footsteps, muttering, "Oops, sorry! Ouch, didn't see you there!" and many other things along that line. They soon got to Jack's beloved food station, the bacon and eggs. Jack shoveled 10 pieces of bacon and at least half as many eggs onto his plate. Luke didn't take quite as many eggs as Jack but he loaded his plate with bacon – because bacon was amazing! The two boys quickly found some seats at the Hermes table. Then everybody stood up. Jack groaned and an older camper whacked Jack's head with a rolled up newspaper. "Ow!" Jack protested. "I'm attached to my bacon, okay?" The older camper rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Jack. That's kind of the point. If you didn't like the food, it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice. Duh." Jack muttered something under his breath about what the gods could go and eat, but didn't say it loud enough that the older camper would hear. "Uh, Jack? What the heck are we doing?" Jack looked surprised and then snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right! I keep forgetting that you're new here. We're sacrificing some food to the gods. Oh, just do what I do." Luke and Jack waited rather impatiently in line. Finally, it was their turn. Jack went first. He dropped a piece of bacon into the fire, wincing as it burned up and said, "Hermes." _Oh, thought Luke. Ok so you give it to your immortal parent. Yeah slight problem. I have no clue who in the heck my dad is. And why does he want my burnt bacon, which is just weird but whatever. _Luke dropped his largest piece of bacon in the flames and said, "Hi, Dad. It's Luke. Some sort of sign would be nice so I know who you are, but while you think about it, here's breakfast. And I'm not doing this as some sort of bribe. Luke felt kind of stupid talking to a flame, but when he dropped his piece of bacon in, he didn't smell the horrible stench he thought that he would smell, he smelled a salty sea spray. _Ok, that's odd. He thought. Whatever, I'm starving._ He made his way back to the table where Jack was sitting and devouring his bacon.

Luke ate like he hadn't eaten in days. The food was just so good here that there was no way around it. Jack finished his plate and began talking in rapid-fire again. "So," Luke said. "I saw your dad yesterday." Jack shut up, Luke thought for the first time in his life. "You did? Are you sure? Cause he never comes around here!" Luke nodded. "Yeah, apparently he was here to see Chiron about something. He sort of – ah – delivered the goods." Jack looked stunned. "Really? That's so cool! Do you think he's still around here? I'm gonna see! Come on." Luke started to protest as Jack pulled him up from his seat and started leading him towards the woods with a death grip on Luke's arm. When they reached the forest, Luke managed to shake his hand free. "Oy! Do you even know where you're going?" Jack shrugged. "I'll find one way through this forest from wherever I start so does it matter? Anyway so where did you meet him?" Luke rolled his eyes. "Connor and Travis' rendezvous spot. Honestly, weren't you listening? Hey-!" Jack had already sped off. Luke jogged to catch up with him. The trees were fairly thin and made several small paths. Up ahead loomed a large rock that looked like a hand making a "thumbs-up" sign. "Hey, that's Zeus's fist!" Jack exclaimed. "Man, I've heard that there was a secret entrance the Labyrinth here and-" Luke was puzzled. "What you mean THE Labyrinth, like the one that old guy Daedalus built like a bajillion years ago in the Mediterranean?" Jack nodded. "Yup. Apparently all this Greek stuff and the gods move around to the center of world power and influence. Who would've guessed it was this place? Honestly, if they're so impressed by McDonalds, they've got some serious issues. Yeah, so apparently Olympus is like on top of the Empire State building and the entrance to the Underworld is in LA. Maybe that's why all of those hotshots in Hollywood go wacko eventually." Luke laughed. "Yeah, maybe,"he said. They walked deeper into the woods, following a sort of path – a deep groove in the ground. It could have been the source of some ancient river that ran dry several decades ago. All around the groove, huge tree roots grew out of the ground and Luke was sure that he would have tripped a lot if he had tried to walk there. The dried riverbed curved and Luke could see that in front of them, the forest had begun to thin. He could smell the salty tang of the sea up ahead and he felt energized. Jack, however, had shut up for what Luke was sure was the first time in his life. He looked ahead with a sort of nervous apprehension. Luke could understand how Jack felt. He too had never met his own father. The riverbed sloped upwards until it blended into the surrounding dirt, but to Luke's relief, the huge tree roots were gone. They came out of the forest into the sunlight. Luke blinked. They were standing on a wide beach that lead into the small strip of beach where he and Connor had met Hermes the previous evening. Apparently Jack's apprehension got the best of him and he ran off to look for Hermes. Soon, Jack had disappeared from sight. At that moment, the wind began picking up. A violent gust nearly knocked Luke over. And then, Luke heard the voice. "You will never make it, Lukas Pride. I will destroy you and your friends will die." Luke spun around. "Who's there?" he called, spinning around, his fists clenched. "Come out and fight me you great big coward." The voice chuckled as the gusts swirled around Luke. "Your quest will fail, little hero. Your friends will die," it whispered. Luke yelled in frustration. Then, suddenly, Luke was thrown on his back and landed hard in the sand. A few feet in front of him, a man stood. The thing that struck Luke the most about this man was that his eyes were closed, like he was sleepwalking. Then, the man spoke in a voice as icy and cutting as the winds surrounding him. "I could kill you now little hero but I think I'll just wait for a little and let you get yourself and your friends killed on the quest. How much more satisfying it will be when you can only blame it on yourself. And then, the demigods will die." Luke felt anger surging inside him. This creepy person had no right to toy with him and put him and others in danger. His vision turned red and he threw his hands forward. "Take this, lunatic!" he yelled. The water behind him rose and followed his movement, pummeling the man over and over until Luke felt himself losing a grip on reality. As his vision went black, he heard a chilling laughter.


	13. Chapter 13

Lara found herself face down in the dust for what seemed like the hundredth time today. Apparently, being a daughter of Zeus didn't help her co-ordination much when she was on the ground, and there were a lot small holes for her to fall in. She was surprised that she hadn't sprained her ankle yet. To make matters worse, she had run out of food by midmorning. Lupa clearly did not have an understanding of the amount of food that a teenaged girl could eat.

Lara thought about just laying there, face down in the dust and giving up. Maybe someone would find her and help her down so that she wouldn't have to walk on these treacherous trails anymore. It would be just like Lupa to find the most difficult, irritating, and frustrating way down the cliffs and into the valley.

The sound of scuffling broke Lara's thoughts. She cursed. Something, something rather large by the sound of it, was after her. She rolled over, just in time to avoid being run over by…what exactly was it? She scrambled behind a rock and listened intently. There was nothing there. Then, something warm and wet hit her t-shirt.

"Ugg!" she said, rolling as the giant…pig charged towards her again. _Well_, she thought, leaping off of the cliff, _I guess this qualifies as an emergency. _

She hadn't planned on all of the branches smacking her on her way down.

"Ouch, oww, haha you missed. Ouch, ah, never mind. Ahhhhhh" Lara lost her concentration as a particularly large branch smacked her upside the head. She started free falling, disoriented. The world spun in circles. She could see the blur that was the pig racing down the slopes, up the slopes, she couldn't tell. Then, her arm jarred painfully on a thick branch. She clung on reflexively, ignoring the pain throbbing through her arm. She legs dangled below her. She risked a glance down. The boar was circling below her, pawing and the ground.

It was this moment that she chose to remember third grade gym class. She was the next in line to swing across pile of mats to the other same pile, where the "monsters" couldn't reach her. She remembered hitting the edge of the mat, clinging on with one leg over, wobbling, dangerously close to falling into the "pit", with some of her mean classmates laughing at her. She had scrambled over the mat, falling unceremoniously on her face. But her classmates, the ones who had laughed, could never reach the other side after that. They claimed that the mats had moved away from them, while Mrs. Hillencrof, their mean gym teacher had rolled her eyes and given them S- for the day.

Lara mustered a smile, thinking of that. Then, her smile vanished, replaced by a look of concentration as she launched herself upwards, like a high jumper, landing sitting on the next branch up. She teetered dangerously, steadying herself by reaching over to put her good arm around the tree. The boar snarled below her. She peered through the trees, trying to see into the valley below. How far was she away from the camp? Would she be able to make it, flying from tree to tree.

The tree below her shook, nearly dislodging her as the boar rammed into it. The thing was huge, with giant, glistening tusks. The boar backed up for another attempt. Lara leaped, aiming for the next tree. When she tried to surge upwards, she nearly blacked out. Spots danced before her eyes and she was falling, right towards the tusks of the boar.


	14. Chapter 14

Luke looked around him. He was sitting next to a small river that was rushing down between two rocks and under ferns further ahead. Above him were tall trees, redwoods, he thought, as the name came back to him. 'Why am I here?' he thought. He stood and started to walk further down the bank.

"Luke!"

Luke turned around, looking for the source of the familiar voice, the voice of his sister. He couldn't see her. He started running back up the bank in the direction of the voice. He got back to where he had been sitting and then paused, leaning against a tree.

"Up here, you moron!"

Luke glanced up the trunk of the tree he was leaning against and about 100 feet up, he saw his sister. She was leaning against the tree trunk, her legs crossed and her arms folded in her characteristic pose of defiance. Her short hair was messy and streaked with dirt. She was wearing a purple t shirt, but the writing on the t shirt was blurred so he couldn't read it. She looked as battered and bruised as he felt, but she was smiling. Luke felt an enormous sense of relief. He began to scramble up the tree trunk as fast as he could, forgetting that the last time he had climbed a tree, he had almost fallen to his death 130 feet below. Lara had not forgotten though. Her expression changed from one of happiness to one of horror. She began to yell at him to go down, motioning with her hands as she often did when she wanted to emphasize something, but Luke was determined to get up, scrambling higher and higher, with each branch getting closer to his sister.

Then he lost his grip.

He began spiraling towards the earth, falling faster and faster, the ground approaching at an alarming speed. Then, as he was about to crash, he woke up.

Luke sat up and looked around him. He was in a room filled with small, low beds that hugged the walls of the small room. He realized that he was in the hospital wing at Camp Half-Blood. It must have been from that fall out of the tree he had taken, he thought. 'I should go and see if they found Lara.' But then he realized that it had all been a dream, the river, the redwoods, Lara, the fall. It had seemed so lifelike to him. Then, he remembered why he was here. Memories came rushing back to him like a flood. He remembered the beach he had walked along alone, helping Jack in his search to find his dad. He remembered the eerie figure who had appeared as if by magic and had threatened his life and his friends'. And he remembered how he had struck the figure down with waves, but he just risen up again.

He was shaken out of his memories by the sound of voices; someone was coming. As the voices got closer, he could hear that one of the voices was Jack, talking in his usual, high pitched supersonic voice.

"Oh, not kitchen duty Chiron. Please not again. Those cleaning harpies are so unfriendly. They look at you like you've done something wrong if you don't want to stick your hands in the lava. Actually they look at you like you've done something wrong most of the time anyways, so please, Chiron, anything else."

"You can clean the stables."

"Ok, I did say anything else, but how about anything else but that. I could….ummm…oh I know! I could inspect the cabins every morning."

"The whole point of this is to punish you , Jack, not reward you with responsibility."

"Ouch, that's harsh. But I still don't like the first two options, so could I do something else?"

At that moment, Chiron and Jack entered the room. Chiron looked like he was trying to get rid of Jack, but clearly was not doing a very good job of it. Jack hurried alongside him, still trying to get out of his punishment. Chiron looked over in Luke's direction and saw that he was awake and sitting up.

Cutting off Jack, he said, "It's good to see that you're awake, Luke. How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks Chiron," Luke replied.

Chiron sat down next to Luke's bed and Jack pulled up a chair and did the same.

"Do you remember what happened?" Chiron asked.

"It's a little foggy, but I think so. I was walking along the beach when it seemed to get dark and stormy. All of a sudden, a man appeared. He claimed that he would destroy Camp Half-Blood. I drew up an enormous wave and struck him down, but he rose up again and again, each time I tried. That's all I remember." He paused, and then suddenly added in, "And this man, he looked like he was sleeping."

Chiron's eyes widened and he was momentarily speechless at the last statement, and then he regained his calm and asked, "Could you describe the man to me, Luke?"

Luke nodded. "He was tall and wore dark clothing. He had dark hair and dark eyes. His voice sounded as sharp as an icy wind."

Chiron shook his head. "No, it cannot be," he said to himself.

"Sorry, but what cannot be? Who is this guy?"

Chiron glanced at Jack as if he had forgotten Jack was there.

"What? I want to know who he is? Is curiosity a crime?"

Chiron ignored Jack and turned to Luke again. "Do you think that you could travel today?"

The question took Luke by surprise. "Sure, I guess," he responded.

Chiron stood abruptly. "There will be a camp meeting in 15 minutes. I expect both of you to be there. He turned and left hurridly.

Jack frowned. "What was that all about?" he asked, casting a glance after Chiron.

Luke pushed the blankets off of him and stood up. "I guess we're going to have to find out."


	15. Chapter 15

Lara was in a tree.

This much didn't really surprise her because she was in trees quite a lot, but the strange thing was that she didn't have a clue how she had gotten into this one. She didn't remember climbing up it, she didn't remember flying into it, and she certainly didn't remember falling into it. _That's strange. _She thought. She shrugged dismissively and looked around her. She was in an enormous redwood that towered over all of the surrounding trees. If she looked carefully, she could see the outline of a mountain in the distance. This place seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite recall why.

She looked down. She was over a hundred feet in the air, her legs dangling in empty space. The next branch below her was about twenty feet down. Anyone who would want to climb the tree would have to use the small stumps in between, formed when large branches had fallen off the tree. She did not envy the person who had to do _that. _She was wearing a purple t-shirt, but it was so dirty that she couldn't make out the writing. Her dyslexia didn't really help, either. She realized that she was holding an apple in her hand, and suddenly became aware that she was starving. She didn't know when the last time she had eaten had been. She took an enormous bite of the apple and pulled her legs up onto the branch, leaning back against the tree trunk. The apple was juicy and delicious. She chewed, savoring the taste. _What am I going to do now?_ The thought flashed through her mind. She wasn't really sure where she was or how she had gotten there. She couldn't even really recall who she was. She decided that staying up in the tree was the best decision for the moment. She took another enormous bite from the apple. That was when she heard the noises from below.

Faint because of the distance, but unmistakably some moron crashing about in the woods below, she decided. She leaned out from the tree branch and peered down. It _was_ another person. She could make out the figure of a boy with a head of blond hair. He had on a smudged and dirty orange t-shirt that hung loosely on his thin, athletic frame. He was taller than average height. Something about this boy was strangely familiar to Lara, but as with the place around her, she couldn't quite recall it. The boy below her leaned to rest against the tree. Lara leaned out of her branch, trying to get a better look at him, but then lost her balance and caught herself on a branch above her. She cursed herself under her breath. The boy heard the noise from above and glanced up. Lara drew back quickly onto her branch, not wanting the figure below her to catch sight of her. It was too late. He had already spotted her.

"Lara!" he called up, in a high pitched voice. He couldn't have been more than thirteen, Lara decided.

"Lara!" he called again. _Luke!_ Thought Lara suddenly, unsure of how the name had come into her head, but knowing that it belonged to the boy below her. _His name is Luke._

The boy started scrambling up the tree trunk towards her, climbing clumsily, as if his legs were being weighed down. Lara looked down in alarm. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that this boy shouldn't be going this high up. It was dangerous. Something had happened to him the last time he had gone this high…_What had happened? _ She began shouting at him, begging him to go down, but if he heard her, he didn't show that he had.

He had reached the beginning of the area of branch stumps. He grabbed a stump with one hand, swinging his legs up onto higher stumps. Then, he reached up with one hand and then the other grabbing two higher handholds. Suddenly, his foot slipped and he swung sideways. He was now hanging by just his two arms. He swung sideways, catching a foot on a stump and trying to place it on there. It looked like he would succeed, but then his foot slipped, and he swung off balance again, this time, his momentum throwing his right hand off a handhold. Lara could see that he was going to fall. She threw her apple, then scrambled down the tree as fast as she could. She had almost reached him when he fell, plummeting faster than should have been possible. Without thinking, she dived off the branch, like a diver going headfirst into a swimming pool, shooting after Luke as fast as she could. Somehow, she knew that she would be too late, and that she would crash too.

Thirty feet left. Twenty feet left. Lara wasn't sure how, but she knew her altitude as if a numerical display was lighting up inside her head telling her. Ten feet left. She grabbed the boy' s orange t-shirt as he hit the ground, slowing him instantly, but she kept on speeding towards the ground unable to stop.

As she was about to hit the ground, she woke up. She was panting for breath as if she had actually been hurtling over a hundred feet down to save Luke. Luke…her brother! She recalled this with a shock like she had been struck by lightning. Her brother, Luke, had been there in her dream. Somehow, this reassured her that he was alright, wherever he was. She realized that she was sweating, and she wiped her forehead absentmindedly. After a few minutes, she caught her breath, and her heartbeat slowed down. She looked around her. She was in a small, white, rectangular tent that was filled with small (but comfortable) cots. There were twelve small cots, in rows of six along each wall. She was in the farthest one from the door on the left. The other cots were empty. She scowled. The only one in the hospital wing, yeah that was a great way to make an impression on others. Then, she frowned. She couldn't remember why she was here or in fact where here was. She tossed off the cover and examined herself. She was wearing a torn purple t-shirt, the same one she had been wearing in her dream. She tried to sit up, but felt a little light headed. She touched her head and felt something soft, a bandage. Then, it all came back to her. The beach where her brother had been sucked into the ocean, landing at Camp, the battle with Jason, and Lupa's unusual decision to spare her. There was a mirror on the nightstand to the left of her bed and she took it and held it up to her face. She had several small scratches, but other than the bandage on her head and a few sore ribs, she looked and felt fine. Just then, the flap of the tent rustled and someone stepped inside.

It was Amy. She looked down the row of cots and found Lara. She raced towards Lara and was quickly next to her cot. A look of relief shone on Amy's face.

"Thank goodness you're alright! I've been so worried about you. Nobody's ever come out of a battle with Jason looking as good as you do! Lupa must've seen that you were really tough! Here, drink some of this." She handed Lara what looked like a fast food place soda cup with a straw in it.

"Couldn't you at least have gotten me the nuggets to go with it?" asked Lara jokingly.

Amy laughed. "It's not soda, it's much, much better. We're going to be going to the pavilion after this. Lupa's got some important announcements to make and she's asked that you be there too. We're going to eat dinner after this."

Lara took the cup, put the straw to her mouth and sipped the liquid. It tasted like her favorite fudge brownie sundae that her mom also used to make, a cool mix of creamy vanilla ice cream and rich warm chocolate brownies. She sipped eagerly at the straw, feeling her strength returning with every drop of the delicious liquid. She finished the cup, shook it and upon hearing that it was empty set it down on the table. She felt strong, powerful , happy. The feeling of helplessness, confusion, and sadness that had clouded her when she had first arrived was gone. Whatever Lupa wanted, she was ready to hear it. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, stood up, and followed Amy out of the door.

When they arrived at the dining pavilion, it seemed like everyone else had arrived already. In fact, there were even more people than Lara had seen at dinner. Everyone was already sitting down at the picnic tables, or on their ends, or leaning against the outside supports of the pavilion if they couldn't find seats. Sitting or standing, all of the other kids there looked oddly subdued and were talking in hushed voices. Something___was _strange, Lara decided. She and Alice made their way over to where Matt was sitting. It didn't seem like anyone was sitting at their assigned tables. Matt was surrounded by a group who certainly looked like they were jocks, and like they were Vulcan's kids. Matt's friends had large, rough hands, and bulked triceps and biceps. The three or four guys had the same close cropped, sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes. They were extremely tanned. This group seemed like the only cheerful group amongst all of the serious, nervous whisperers. They were talking in low voices so as not to attract attention, but it was clear from Matt's face that he was telling a funny story. A moment later, they all doubled over in silent laughter. Lara and Amy sat down with the group.

Matt recovered enough to gasp, "Hi Lara." Before burying his face in his hands and doubling over again. A few minutes later, he looked up and asked, "How're you doing?"

"Awesome! Amy just gave me the smoothie from heaven! What did you call that stuff again, Amy?"

"I didn't." Amy replied. She put on a mock glare as Matt glanced at her as if he had just realized she was sitting next to Lara. Maybe he _had_ just realized she was there, Lara decided. "So nice of you to remember me, Matt." Matt spluttered and tried to excuse himself for a few seconds until he saw that Amy was just joking.

"I was just thinking of Lara first since she's been out for like a week," he said, shoving Amy good-naturedly. "Come now, don't act like that or I'll think you're getting jealous." He winked at Lara. Lara grinned back, but secretly felt butterflies flutter in her stomach.

Amy sighed dramatically, like what she was about to say next would kill her and said, "Well, I _guess_ you can think of the invalid first and…."

"HEY! I am not invalid!" Lara exclaimed, giving Amy a playful shove. "I'd like to see you fight Jason Grace and look as good as I do now!" She flashed a cocky grin at Amy, who returned the shove. Amy was just about to give a clever retort when there was a call for silence.

Lupa had just padded to the front of the pavilion, leaping onto a picnic table left empty specifically for her. "We have a few orders of business to attend to today." She announced. "First, and foremost, I would like to welcome Lara Pride to Camp Jupiter. As you all know, or should know, Lara faced Jason Grace in her admission test to this camp. While she failed to defeat him, she has proven herself to be skilled. And that is why she is still here today. Lara, please stand. Lara stood. At that moment, the wind rose, whipping all around her. The sky darkened. Then, all of a sudden, lightning struck, an inch to Lara's left. Two strikes followed, one to her right, and one in front. And then she was hit by the lightning.

She had expected it to sear her skin at the least, but it left no mark on her. She was momentarily blinded, and felt an odd current pass through her body. And then it was over. Nobody spoke for a few moments and then Lupa kneeled and the campers followed. "All hail, Lara Pride, daughter of Jupiter."

Lara was momentarily stunned, not sure what to think of her situation, she was just surprised. Then, a wave of emotions hit her. _Daughter of Jupiter? That was so cool! But it meant that she wasn't in Matt's cabin .The Mercury cabin was so cool! But not being in Mercury cabin was a good thing! Going out with her half-brother would've been wrong! Did she seriously just have that thought? Yep. _So Lara decided that being the daughter of Jupiter was definitely a positive thing. Lupa, meanwhile, seemed to have recovered herself, straightening up and continuing on with the announcements.

"Yesterday I visited Mt Olympus for an emergency meeting," She announced. "The gate to the fountain of the mist is breaking. He does not know what is causing it, but a prophecy has called for three from our camp to stop it. The gods themselves have chosen three from our camp to go. I need Amy, Matthew, and Lara to come with me to my den. The rest of you are dismissed. Good-bye. The end." She padded to the left end of the pavilion and stood, waiting for Matt, Lara, and Amy to join her.

"What's this fountain of the mist thing?" blurted out Lara as soon as the three of them had settled down onto the sofa opposite Lupa in Lupa's den. "I mean, I'm guessing that it's really important, whatever it is, but that's about all I know about it." Amy kicked Lara to get her to shut up before she said something stupid. Matt snickered and turned away. Lara kicked him and said, "What? I really don't know what it is! I don't even know what the Mist is! Um, hello? I'm new to this!" She glared pointedly at Amy who started snickering like Matt.

"Enough of this!" snapped Lupa. "Amy, Matthew, you're acting like little kids. The fate of Olympus is in your hands. For the gods' sakes grow up!" Matt and Amy looked guilty. Lupa continued. "The Mist is a magical veil that prevents ordinary mortals from seeing our world as it really is. Our monsters appear to be people or animals, our weapons appear as guns and baseball bats, and our battles appear as freak accidents. While this protects them from a great but terrible truth, it also protects us. Although we are more powerful, they are more numerous. And with the great technology that they have created, they will overrun our ways if they ever discover its existence. The Mist is all generated from a fountain, a great place of rushing water. Now, an evil force is at its door breaking down its gates, and threatening our way of life. Your mission is to destroy this force. But first, you must here the prophecy." She padded over to a table and picked up a piece of parchment with her paw. She opened it and read: "Two sides of the same renewed in a deadly game/ Across four boundaries they will fly/If without jems in vain they try/ To attempt an unsealing of their fate/ In the braking fountain beyond the gate/ The one betrayed will take a fall/ In order to save them all/Kin in blood and kin in pain/Shall be of them all that remain." She finished reading and looked at them. They were all silent. "You will have until sunset to gather what belongings and weaponry you will need and then you must leave. You have at most three days."


	16. Chapter 16

Lara's eyes blinked slowly open, the tall trees above her blurring as she struggled to force her eyes to stay open. _Where was she? _Indistinctly, she smelled…bacon. It smelled really good. Maybe someone had made her breakfast…on the forest floor? She rolled over slightly. She was sprawled on rough yellow pine needles, her legs bent awkwardly as if she had fallen…and she had fallen, she remembered this much. But she should be dead – and she wasn't. Then there was that smell of bacon, which was beginning to make her mouth water. She sat up, putting her hands underneath her to support her. Sitting up was a bad idea. The world lurched and her head hit the ground again. As she fell, she thought she saw the indistinct outlines of two figures peering through the trees at her.


End file.
